As you well know if you think you're missing something and its just too good to be true... then it isthanks
this is too good to be true, 10% ROIC... what i don't understand is why MM is practically begging me to take 68 coz this is the easiest money i've ever made
OI is 700, gamma is 700, maxpain is 800
the probability of close=700 is very high yet they sell me cc 695 for 73
even if they dump, they gave me breakeven too low at 627
i'm gonna investigate some more: i must be missing something, there must be a catch
or perhaps i'm just a real newbie to this selling ATM CC
My suggestion - even if you see these as different (and I also see these as different from the emotional and how well I can manage them side), analyze the buy-write as if you were selling a CSP at the covering call strike instead.
If you think the buy-write (buy at 700; sell the 695 call) is a no-brainer, then also analyze the sale of a 695 cash secured put. Is that equally a no-brainer? I guess the advice I'm getting to here is that whether you actually see the risk/reward on these two alternative positions, you've got a couple of people telling you that they are at minimum close enough that if one is a no-brainer, then so is the other.
I think that the real key to generating great income using buy-writes is for the share price to be relatively low. Right now with TSLA might be a good time - buy shares at 145 and sell the 135 calls for example. For me at least I am emotionally able to handle being closer to the money like this, than I would be from selling the 135 strike put.
An important component of that emotional benefit is that its pretty easy for me to hold until the covering call has effectively no time value remaining which usually happens on the last day, and there are plenty of circumstances where the covering calls goes ITM and then back out for a max gain. With the CSP I'd be more likely to take the early roll and turn a winner for the week into a roll that I resolve (hopefully) next week.
So the emotional component is really important, at least the way I see it. But it doesn't turn a bad idea into a no-brainer, or vice versa